Cinderpaw(heart)'s Fall
by Tigercry
Summary: Cinderpaw's fall from the tree helping Mousepaw is well known, but what happened to her while the books were focused on other cats? Well hopefully this explains some of it.


_**I apologize to those who tried reading this and it was in code -_-)**_

(Cinderpaw's View)

I carefully made my way up to Mousepaw, keeping track of where I went to keep myself from getting lost, I didn't tell anyone but this climb was nerve wracking, if I fell there was a huge chance of breaking my leg. Again. 'Wait what? I've never broken my leg before, where did that come from?' I was so confused, most of the time I confused myself silly, somehow I could differentiate between herbs, knew what thunderpath's were, knew what badgers smelled like and felt an insane fear towards them even though I had never ever in my entire life met one. With the addition of something like right now when I felt fear for something that'll happen when I've never actually seen it or had it happen! I sighed at my confusion and shook it away, reaching Mousepaw I started leading him back down the tree, making sure he didn't fall off.

Once he nearly did, but I hauled him back onto the branch. Then horror spiked at my senses as my back paws fell off the branch and I viciously scrabbled to back up, unsheathing my claws to try and get a better grip, I could feel my weight shifting backward as I struggled harder, 'No! I can't fall off up here! I'm not ending up like a cripple again!'

I froze not understanding where that came from. That split second of frozen confusion sent me to the ground, my back paws completely slipped off and my front claws tore into the bark of the branch, but I still fell, eventually coming off the branch with a wrench that forced me to sheath my claws or get them caught and torn. I tried to land on another branch but I was going to fast, branches and twigs slapping me in the face, catching in my fur and knocking the wind out of me as the ground neared closer I accepted my fate for helping Mousepaw. 'This is going to hurt.' Crunch! It totally did. My body exploded with pain my vision flashed normal before dark flooded it, my hearing also vanished with the impact. My right back leg was throbbing and sending paralyzing shoots of pain up my flanks and to my pounding skull. Dimly I wondered, 'Am I ever going to become a warrior now?'

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Cinderpelt watched, blue eyes wide and horrified at the scene, she never wanted what happened to her happen to Cinderpaw, even if it was in a different way. Thunderclan couldn't have three medicine cats, what would happen to Cinderpaw?! 'Starclan save her.'

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Bluestar paced in a circle up in starclan, her tail swishing angrily, "What are we going to do now?" She meowed agitatedly, "We gave Cinderpelt another chance and now she might not get it!"

Yellowfang was sitting next to the blurry form of the sleeping injured apprentice, "Cinderpaw will recover, have faith in her. I'm sure Cinderpelt's second chance wont be wasted," She gently prodded the silver tabby, "This one won't settle for anything else, even if she becomes crippled I'm sure she and Cinderpelt are smart enough to figure something out. Have faith Bluestar." She whispered in the apprentice's ear, "Heal well little one, Starclan is counting on you to help Cinderpelt." Cinderpaw stirred, her whiskers twitching, ears perking up, and uttering a mewl in a gesture of she understood and would try as hard as she could.

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Cinderpaw opened her blue eyes, feeling like a dead weight once again. It had been at least a moon since her injury and inwardly she was hoping for tbe best, struggling to keep still and keep from jaring her her leg too much like Leafpool asked her too, the fear of never healing reigned in her mind and she still struggled not to give up on it.

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Ignoring the dull pain in her leg Cinderpaw crept up on a mouse, a twig snapped under her paw and she leapt forward towards the mouse, her back paws crashed into a fallen log; pain exploded from her injured leg and she let out a pain filled howl, dropping to the ground, her leg hurting more now than it had before, her vision darkened around the edges and everything was a blur as she was told to walk back to camp on her own if she could, with her vision blackening and her leg throbbing. She managed it though and thought, 'Ugh, this stupid nest in the medicine den is going to end up being mine forever.'

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Cinderpaw huddled in her nest, her ears flat against her skull, trying to block out her sister's warrior ceremony, jealousy raged in her body and she hated it. She hated what she was feeling, hated her screwed up back leg, hated her sister's becoming warriors, and even hated that stupid twig that alerted that mouse of her presence. She was so close! So close to becoming the warrior she always wanted but had to watch the clan move on while she was stuck in this stupid den with a leg she could barely stretch without crying out in pain. Burying her muzzle under her front paws and covering her face with her tail she could feel the agonizing tears pressing at the corners of her eyes and wished she could be with her sisters getting her warrior name and wouldn't be getting it all alone having nobody to share her warriors vigil with. Too bad it hurt too much to go support her sisters.

"Cinderpaw!" She heard her sister Honeypaw, excuse her she meant Honeyfern, squeal rushing into the den, her paws thundering on the rocky ground, "I'm Honeryfern now!" Cinderpaw didn't react, keeping her paws over her nose and her fluffy tail hiding her face.

"And I'm Poppyfrost now!" Cinderpaw's tail tip twitched in anger, getting frustrated with her sisters, feeling like they were rubbing in her face they were warriors now.

"Do you think Berrynose'll pay attention to me now?" Honeyfern asked both her sisters in a worried tone. That hit Cinderpaw's breaking point.

"Oh I don't know Honeyfern," Cinderpaw snapped sitting up and emphasizing the 'fern' part of her name, "Maybe his nose is held so high in the air he can only notice Starclan cats," She snarled angrily. "Even your new warrior status might now be enough!"

Honeyfern moved back in shock, she never knew her sister to be bitter and angry. "Maybe you should've not hurt you leg then!" She growled, "It isn't my fault you were hurt!"

"I'm not saying it is! But couldn't you have waited for me!" Cinderpaw snarls, hurt evident in her voice, "Why couldn't you have waited for me to heal?!"

"Because I want to be a warrior and Berrynose's mate!" Honeyfern snarls in return, "I'm not waiting for my sister who's probably going to end up as a cripple!" Cinderpaw got her paws, back leg feeling like it was fire, the pain adding to her hurt and fury.

"I'm not a cripple!" She roared at her sister, baring her teeth and unsheathing her claws to dig them into the soft moss beneath her, "I'm going to be a warrior!"

"Face it Cinderpaw," Honeyfern hisses, feeling stung that her sister didn't care that she was finally a warrior, "You're a cripple, your not going to become a warrior." She hissed. Cinderpaw looked stung and hurt, with a glare out of watery blue eyes she flopped back into her nest and curled into a tight ball ignoring and avoiding her sisters. Honeyfern looks guilty and tried to apologize but Cinderpaw doesn't listen, turning away from her sisters and hiding her face with her tail as warm tears formed in her eyes. 'She's right. I'm never going to be a warrior.' She accepted that was what the path starclan wanted for her to go down, to follow the pawsteps of her predessor of the Cinder name.

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Cinderpelt didn't know what to do, she could urge her to not give up but she couldn't do anything about destroyed hopes and dreams. 'Please, please let us be a warrior, for both our sakes.'

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Cinderpaw opened her eyes to the feeling of someone rasping their tongue over her wet fur. After the first swimming lesson she colapsed in her nest and was out like a light, not caring for her wet pelt. She saw the torishell pelt of her mother Sorreltail curled around her. She set her head back down, watching her mother's tail move with the annoyance of a cat cooped up in a den for too long. "Do you need something mom" She asked quietly looking out of the den entrance to watch the shadows of cats moving past the den.

"No, but I'd like to help you," Sorreltail mewed gently, licking her daughter's head between the ears.

"Do as you wish," Cinderpaw replied dully. So matter how excited she was to strengthen her leg she couldn't keep hoping she'd become a warrior, after moons of issues with her injury she figured she'd be crippled for the rest of her life.

"Cinderpaw, you'll be a warrior soon, don't give up hope yet my dear," Sorreltail purred licking the moisture from the gray tabby's coat.

"You'd be miserable too if you'd been plopped back in here and failed your warrior assessment. That must be the worse fail in history. Smacking into a log and screwing up your back leg again."

"I'm sure there's been worse fails Cinderpaw, if you want to be a warrior I'm sure you'll be one, your injury isn't as bad as Cinderpelt's was so I'm sure you'll become a fine warrior."

"You think so?" Cinderpaw actually purred, feeling happier than she had in moons and full of hope.

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"Hollyleaf! Cinderheart! Lionblaze! Hollyleaf! Cinderheart! Lionblaze!" The clan chanted the names of the three new warriors who all looked proud, but Cinderheart was happier than she could be in a lifetime, her warrior name ringing in her ears, reassuring herself it actually happened, she actually healed and became a warrior. What was even better was she wasn't alone, her best friend Hollyleaf and Hollyleaf's brother Lionblaze were also named at the same time, she wasn't alone for her vigil. It had taken a lot of time, reevaluating options, and crushed hopes to reach this moment, but Cinderheart wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.


End file.
